Kuruman

Kuruman
	Kuruman
	Kuruman
Coordinates	27 ° 28 ′ S , 23 ° 25 ′ E Coordinates: 27 ° 28 ′ S , 23 ° 25 ′ E
Basic data
Country	South Africa
province	North Cape
District	Kgalagadi
ISO 3166-2	ZA-NC
local community	Ga-Segonyana
height	1131 m
Residents	13,057 (2011)
	Special features: ; Eye of Kuruman , lake
	Street in Kuruman

Kuruman is a former British mission station and the largest city in the Ga-Segonyana community , Kgalagadi district , Northern Cape Province in South Africa . In 2011 it had 13,057 inhabitants. It is known as the " Oasis of the Kalahari " because there are mountains, water and dense vegetation in the middle of a semi-desert region . Specifically, the city owes this epithet of the never-ending freshwater - Source The Oog , (German: "The Eye"), and Eye of Kuruman . It delivers around 20 million liters of good quality water every day. The source is a national monument.

The city is located on the Ghaap Plateau at an altitude of 1,131 meters on National Route 14 , which connects Upington with Vryburg and the province of Gauteng , among others . The city is named after Kudumane , a San chief of the 18th century.

history

Robert Moffat , a Scottish evangelical missionary from the London Missionary Society , lived here with his wife and ten children from 1820 to 1870. He made the station the most important mission center in southern Africa during the 19th century. He was the first to translate the Bible into the African language Setswana . The Gospel of Luke was completely translated from 1830 , the New Testament followed in 1840 and the Old Testament was completed in 1857 . By 1840 he also translated John Bunyan's pilgrimage into this language. In order to be able to read and understand the Bible, the first converts learned to read and write, and the station became an educational center. The first Africans who had adopted the Christian faith were baptized as early as 1829, and in 1834 the local church consisted of 350 people. The first Bible was printed on site in 1857. His grandson Howard Unwin Moffat , the second Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia , was born here on January 13, 1869.

economy

Mining and agriculture are economically important in the region . Various mineral raw materials are mined here, for example manganese ore , iron ore and the world's largest quantities of crocidolite (blue asbestos). The mining company Kalagadi manganese , which operates in the region, is a joint venture with ArcelorMittal with the participation of the South African IDC and was built up right from the start by Daphne Mashile Nkosi with other managers in management positions. With the support of the South African Mining Ministry, Kalagadi manganese has been training young women entrepreneurs in Kuruman for future work in the mining sector since 2014 . In this context, the mining company also wants to contribute to the local implementation of the government's empowerment policy .

Tourism is also an important source of income. Some of the largest hunting grounds in South Africa are located in the vicinity of the city.

climate

Due to its location on the edge of the Kalahari, extreme temperature differences occur between summer and winter. During the winter months there is regular frost, from December to April wet north and north-east winds ensure frequent thunderstorms, in summer the 40 ° C are exceeded despite the altitude. The average rainfall is 420 mm per year.